Wright announces additions to Mocs coaching staff

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Rusty Wright announced the addition of three members to his staff on Thursday. Adam Mims and Ricky Spradling join the Mocs coaching ranks, while Zach Kramme has been elevated to Director of Recruiting.

Mims will coach the receivers, while Spradling takes over the running backs room. Mims is a 2010 graduate of Furman where he was an All-American receiver. He spent the 2018 season as the receivers coach at Tennessee Tech.

Spradling coached the running backs coach at North Greenville (S.C.) University for the last two years. Prior to that, he was on Furman’s staff for four seasons. Kramme is a 2018 graduate of Georgia Southern who spent 2018 as a Player Personnel Assistant with the Mocs.

“Adam was at Furman in 2010 when I was there, so I have known him for some time,” stated Wright. “I have watched his career grow over the years and am very excited to have him here. Ricky has been in the Southern Conference before and is a very hard-working and knowledgeable coach. They are both great additions to our staff.

“Zach has been very important to us during this transition. He is obsessed with recruiting and I am excited to see how he is going to help us move the program forward.”

Spradling joined North Greenville after spending four years on Bruce Fowler's staff at Furman. In 2013, he was the assistant defensive line coach on the Paladins' SoCon championship team. The next two years he directed the squad's outside linebackers before assuming the duties of running backs coach in the spring of 2016.

Spradling played quarterback at Mars Hill, graduating with a degree in Sports Management in 2009. He was a three-year starter, setting school season passing records for most completions and touchdown passes. He was also a four-time Academic All-SAC honoree.

The Boca Raton, Fla., native was a three-sport standout at Avery County (N.C.) High School, starring in football, basketball, and baseball and playing in North Carolina East-West All-Star games in both football and basketball.

Mims spent two seasons at Presbyterian College as the Blue Hose's wide receivers coach and passing game co-coordinator before coaching at Tennessee Tech in 2018. During his time at PC, he oversaw All-Big South Conference receiver Dashawn Davis. Mims also served as the punt return coordinator and PC's unit ranked second in the Big South Conference.

Prior to that, Mims spent a year as an offensive analyst at Samford. With the aid of his efforts, the Bulldogs finished third in the nation in passing offense, seventh in total offense and the top team in completion percentage.

As a collegiate student-athlete at Furman, Mims was a team captain in 2010. He was named a second-team All-American by The Sports Network, as well as the group's National Player of the Week following a contest at then-No. 13 South Carolina. He was also a consensus selection to the All-SoCon team for three straight seasons.

He ended his career at Furman as the school's all-time leader in receiving yards, receptions and single-season receptions. Mims is fifth in Furman's record book in career touchdowns with 13.

Mims later went on to spend a season with the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011 and then to the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes in 2012 as a receiver/punt returner and kick returner, before returning to the collegiate side to coach.

Kramme helped the Mocs grab a school-record six three-star recruits in their 2018 signing class. Prior to his time at UTC he was a student assistant for three years at Georgia Southern. There he assisted in the recruiting and player personnel department. He worked under Zach Bell, now Minnesota’s Director of recruiting communication.

While with the Eagles, Kramme twice helped Georgia Southern achieve the number one recruiting class in the Sun Belt. Before becoming a student assistant with Georgia Southern, he was a football/baseball coach at Portal High School in Statesboro, Ga.